Black-out light for vehicles



March 6, 1945. W. TRAUTNER 2,370,823

BLAGKOUT LIGHT FOR VEHICLES I Filed Ag. 11, 1942 INVENTOR. Maw Ffm/rnc?.

ATTO RN EYS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1945 BLACK-OUT LIGHT FORVEHIYCLES; y ..Wagn TrautnenI-amilton, Ohio, assignor toThe f l K-n Lamp companapincinnati, o nio, a cor-v j 11A poration of Ohio Appueatidn August A11, 1942, serial No. 454,411

' sc iaims. (c1. 177-329) Myinvention relates to structures for luse on vehicles, including both civilian-and military vehicles, during blackouts or other conditions precluding the` use of illuminante visible from vthe air. These structures are used for a'variety of purposes, and the particular mode of use doesnot constitute a limitation on my invention. I will describe my 'invention in connection with a strucmy invention to provide adequatel sealing with ture which may be employed as a combined taillight and stop signal for vehicles.

In such structuresit has been recognized `that limited visibility is a desideratum, and this has 4been obtained, in general, by the use of a filter to control either the intensity or the color value of the light, or both, a mask to limit the area of light emission, and a front lens of some sort to protect the other elements. In some cases, the light` r signaling device must be of suchcharacter as to give an indication to the observer of the distance of the device. This is vusually accomplished by providing spaced perforations in. the masking member so related to each other that within a given distance they will appear as separate light sources, whereas, from a greater distance, they will merge into one. Also, it is sometimes v'desirable that thesignal give to the observer an indication of his angle of view. This is usually accomplished by providing one or morefperforations in the masking device, which perforations have a shape varying vertically. Such a masking deviceis used in connection with a front lens member of restricted effective area and spaced from the mask member a given distance. The full area of the perforations in the mask member thus becomes visible only within a narrow angle.

A departure from this angle, either up' or down,`

results -in the cutting off of the visibility of a portion of the perforations, thereby giving an indication of angular position, In my device all of these effects may be obtained as desired.

There has also been recognized that whatever construction is adapted must have the characteristics of beingsealed against the entrance of dirt,

. dust and mud; and this is an oicial requirement for military vehicles.- Dust, dirt and mud can, of course, accumulate on 'the outsidel of the lamp housing and on' the outside of the lens element.

But when this happens, it can usually vbe removed.

by asimple wiping operation. It is essential that foreign substances shall not enter -the housing or get between -the lens element and themask or cover,` or obscure the lter.

- The fundamental object'of my invention is thel provision of a structure of 'very much simplified and cheaper form, -while having the advantages A.called unitary assembly.

Fig. 2is a planzvew of the unitary assembly Aup the unitary assembly.l

.to the horizontal. ,on the bracket 4 toorient thetransparent lens ofy formerstructures and'meeting' the requirements hereinabove set forth. It isan object of fewer and simpler parts, and in general, to provide a unitary structure comprising the lens ele-v ments, mask elements,.and filter elements, which f are required for the purpose set, forth, together .with bae means. It is an object of my invention to provide a lstructure in'whichY the failure vand replacementof one or more ofthe bulbs does not require the replacement of anyother parts.' It

is an object of my invention to :provide a sealed,v

unitary structure, as' hereinabove mentioned, in which the structure Iacts as asealing element for the lamp housing. It is anobject of my inven- .tion `to provide a structure in which disassembly, replacement, and reassembly arefacilitated under conditions'of darkness and in which the proper vorientationoi the various parts is assured. It is .an object of my linvention to provide the necessary Velements in a simplified and cheapened form. 'These and other objects of myA invention, which will be set forth hereinafter or` will be apparent to vone yskilled in the art upon `reading this speciiication, I accomplish by that certain construe;l

' tionv and arrangement of parts of which I shall .now describe an exemplary embodiment.

i Reference is made to thedrawing wherein: Fig. 1 is a front elevational with certain parts in section.

. Figy3 is a vertical sectional vview of the structureitself taken valong the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

" Fig. 4is a front elevational view of the coinpleted device. *l

` Fig..'5 isan exploded View of y Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a combined 4`ask and filter element which I prefer to use. f

. The structure of the housing of my device may be Widely varied as will be understood. In its exemplary embodiment, it comprises a cup'- -shapedhousing member I', to the rear of which is attached `another cup-shaped housing-member 2. One purpose of this fior-misto enable meto attach a bracketl l to the housingv member 2 by Lmeans of a grommet 3, so asfto provide a swveledconstruction. The bracket `ll will be attached to the .vehicle in f any suitable Way, as

for example, bymeans ofjanother bracket plv-- oted' to the bracket `t `and prvidingfforfsuch adjustment aswill bring the axis of the housing The housing maybe swiveled view of the sothe parts making portions. Socket devices may be mounted on the bottom of the housing member I. The electrical connections for these sockets may pass through the grommet, as shown. Incandescent lamps 6 and 'I may be placed in the sockets.

The housing member I, at its open end, may conveniently be terminated as at 8 in a rolled bead, or in some other coniguration providing a shoulder against which the unitary assembly, next to be described, may be placed. The structure is completed by a cap 9 which covers the unitary assembly and is suitably perforated to disclose portions of the lens element. `The cap engages snugly over the housing I and may be held in place in any suitable way. It is possible to fasten the cap to the housing I by means of screws passing through the flange of the cap and engaged in threaded openings. in the housing. I prefer to employ fastening means hereinafter described.

My., unitary assembly comprises a lens element, one or more hollow bodies which are preferably combined masking and filtering means, preferably a gasket. and a metal mounting plate of generally fain-shame, perforated for the passage of the masking and filtering means- The metal mounting plate, in the, nal form of the unitary assembly, will have its edges crimped over the lens element, thereby serving to hold the parts together.. The mounting plate, in structures employing more than one illuminant, will be provided with baffles.' as may be required.

The lens and lter elements are of translucent or transparent substance and may be 'made of glass, although I prefer to make them of some translucent plastic which is non-brittle and not subject to shattering. The lens element is a disk-like body I0, having on its front surface certain protuberances II and I2 which are designed to form the eiective lens surfaces, and to extend through perforationsin the cap 9. The rear surface of the lens element may be provided with recesses i3 and I4 to accept the edges or edge flanges of the masking andi ltering elements next to be described. The extreme edge of the lens element may he provided with. av groove I5 to coact with the gasket. Whilel have spoken of the element IIB. as a lens element, it will be understood that for most uses, it is not designed to refract light, but o-n the contrary, will have parallel, plane surfaces. Where such a thing is desired, however, these surfaces may be nonparallel. or may be curved to producerefraction.

While it is possible to employ separate'ltering elements and masking elements, such as perforated metal plates, I prefer to employ a simplified structure, as herein` illustrated. My filtering elements are preferably made in the shape lof hollow bodies I6, or Il of generally cup-shape. Their open ends may be. provided with a peripheral ange i8.` Since these elements are to serve the combined purposes of a mask and a filter, I- provide a way oi coating the inside surfaces of the hollow bodies with an opaque substance,- except over the areas through which light is to pass. One of such areas is indicated at I9 in Fig. 6, and I have found that if I mould this area in the form of a depression in the bottom of the hollow body IB, I caneasily locate in it a template or plug, and then spray the opaque substance over the remainder of the inside surfaces of the hollow body I6. The particular shape and number `of translucent areas lll` in the filter do not constitute a limitation on my invention. In the. exemplary embodiment herein disclosed. I

have shown a stop light section having one oddshaped, translucent area and a tail light section having two pairs of spaced, odd-shaped, translucent sections for purposes already set forth. The

areas II and I2 of the lens element lie opposite v the translucent area or areas of the mask and filter elements.

The substance of the lters will be translucent; but the lters may, if desired, be clear, or may have a diminished light transmitting characteristic to cut down the intensity of the illumination. Also, they may be colored as desired in order to restrict the illumination to a given section of the spectrum.

The next element in my unitary assembly is a gasket means, indicated at 20. This may, if desired, be of rubber or other resilient material, but I have found that it may be more cheaply made of paperboard or other brous substance, with or without a waterproof binder. Its peripheral Shape Will be that of the lens element I0, but it will be perforated, as shown, to accept the hollow bodies I6 and Il.4

The mounting plate is a cup-shaped structure having a bottom 2| and peripheral walls 22. The bottom will be perforated, as at 23 and 24, to accept the hollow bodies I6 and Il, and the metal of the mounting plate may 'conveniently be up-set about the edges of the perforations, as shown. Where the illuminating device contains more than one incandescent bulb, a baille or bailles are required. Where the shape of the lter elements permits, these baiiles may be struck up from the body of the mounting plate. Otherwise, they may be separately formed and attached to the mounting plate as by spot welding, riveting, or the like.

The several elements forming the unitary assembly are put together, as will be clear from Fig. 2, and in the order shown in Fig. 5. When this is accomplished, the edges of the walls 22 of the mounting plate are crimped over the lens element, as at 25 in Fig. 2, thus providing a unitary structure which has now been fully described as to its essentials, excepting that I prefer to form perforations 26 and 2'! therethrough. The cap element 9 will be similarly perforated, as Well as being perforated, as shown, for the lens portions II and IE.- The unitary assembly may be placed in the cap 9 and the edges of the cap passed over the open end of the housing member I. When this is accomplished, the unitary assembly will lie tightly against the shoulder 8 on the housing. Screws 28 and 29 may be passed through the periorations in the cap and unitaryv assembly, and may be threaded into brackets 30 affixed to the housing member I. I t will be noted that the perforations 2G and 21 lie to one side of a diameter of the unitary assembly, or are otherwise asymmetrically placed so as to insure the proper orientation of the cap 9 and the unitary assembly on the housing, and to. facilitate putting the parts together in the proper orientation under conditions of darkness.

It will be noted also that the construction is a sealed construction. housing, nor the spa-ces between the lens and lter elements. External surface dirt may readily be wiped. from the exposed lens portions II and I2. Yet the structure may easily be taken apart, and the bulbs and l are replaceable Without requiring the substitution of new lens or filter elements.

invention is not limi-ted as to the number Dirt cannot enter the exemplary embodiment, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a structure of the class described comprising a housing, a unitary sealedassembly including a lens element, a cup-shaped iilter element having an outwardly extending peripheral ange at its open end and a mounting plate for holding the lens element and the lter element in sealed assembly, the said mounting plate having a .cup-shaped body perforated to accept the said lter element and peripheral walls crimped over the edge of the lens element.

v 2. In a structure of the class described, a housing containing illuminating means, a cap, and a unitary assembly comprising a lens element, a plurality of lter elements of lesser cross-sectional area and a' mounting plate, said filter elements ybeing in the form of cup-shaped bodies with peripheral flanges at theirr openends, said velements together into a unitary assembly.

3. The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said mounting plate `carries a bale, said housing containing at least two incandescent bulbs, one located on each side of said baffle.

4. The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said mounting plate carries a baille, said housing containing at least two incandescent bulbs, one located on each side of said baffle, said'unitary assembly including a gasket, said cap being perforated to disclose portions of said lens element, said housing having a shoulder against which said unitary assembly engages, and means in connection with said cap for fastening said cap to said housing whereby to provide a sealed construction.

5. The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said mounting plate carries a baille, said housing containing at least two incandescent bulbs, one

located on each side of said baiiie, said unitary assembly including a gasket, said cap being perforated vto disclose portions of said lens element, said housing having a shoulderA against which said unitary assembly engages, and means in connection with said cap for fastening said cap to said housing whereby to provide a sealed construction, said last mentioned means including means for determining the orientation of said `cap and the said unitary assembly with respect to `said housing. f

k6. A unitary assembly for the purpose described comprising a lens element, a plurality of filter and masking elements, each being in the form of a cup-shaped body with a peripheral iiange at its open end, a 'gasket perforatedto receive the hollow bodies of said lter and masking elements, a mounting plate in the form of a cup-shaped body having a bottom perforated to receive said masking and filter elements, and peripheral walls enclosing said gasket and said lens and being crimped over the outer peripheral surfaces of said lens element.

7. The lstructure claimed in claim- 6 wherein the inner surface of said lens element is recessed to receive the edges of said masking and iilter elements, the depth of the recesses being substantially the'depth of the said flanges on said masking and filter elements, the said lens having portions of its outer surface lying opposite said masking and filter elements extended forwardly.

8. The structure claimed in claim '6 lwherein the inner surface of said lens element is recessed to receive the edges of said masking and filter elements, the depth of the recesses being substantially the depth ofthe said flanges on said masking and filter elements, the said lens having portions ofits outer surface lying opposite said masking and iilter elements extended forwardly, said masking and filter elements having recesses in their bottoms demarking ,restricted 'masking and filter elements, the said lens having portions of its outer surface lying opposite said k masking and yfilter elements extended forwardly. said masking and iilter elements having recesses in their bottoms demarking restricted translu- 

